The Rival (2006) (TV)

Director:

Douglas Jackson

Writers:

Mark Castaldo (story)
Christine Conradt (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

9 October 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

Cast

Tracy Nelson	...	Alice Miller
Heather Tom	...	Jennifer
Linden Ashby	...	George Miller
Barbara Niven	...	Linda Zeller
Anna Ferguson	...	Aunt Eileen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tyrone Benskin	...	Det. Martin
Jessica Gaffney	...	Waitress
Sophie Gendron	...	Lisa Kennedy
Kathy Logan	...	Restaurant Patron
Neil Napier	...	David Browning
Mercedes Papalia	...	Waitress
Luigi Saracino	...	Young Male Assailant

Directed by
Douglas Jackson

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mark Castaldo		story
Christine Conradt		writer
W.T. McCoy		writer

Produced by
Tom Berry	....	executive producer
Neil Bregman	....	producer
Pierre David	....	executive producer
Pierre David	....	producer
Louis A. Massicotte	....	executive producer
Stefan Wodoslawsky	....	producer

Original Music by
Richard Bowers

Cinematography by
Bert Tougas

Film Editing by
Robert E. Newton

Casting by
Ginette D'Amico
Aaron Griffith
Lisa Parasyn

Art Direction by
Jonathan Hobin

Set Decoration by
Geoff Sangster
Christopher Lee Veitch

Makeup Department
Brandi Boulet	....	assistant makeup artist
Reagan Forsythe	....	assistant makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Christopher Renaud	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Lorita de la Cerna	....	adr mixer
Valéry Dufort-Boucher	....	dialogue editor
Denys Dufresne	....	sound editor
Christian Rivest	....	supervising sound editor

Stunts
David Rigby	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Albert Camicioli	....	still photographer
Curtis Dickie	....	grip
Curtis Dickie	....	key grip: second unit
Christopher Kralik	....	lighting technician

Editorial Department
Virginie Blondel-Pelletier	....	post-production coordinator
Melany Bourgouin	....	post-production coordinator

Other crew
Troy Baker	....	production coordinator
Shane Boucher	....	assistant location manager
Christopher Livingston	....	production assistant
Christopher Renaud	....	production assistant
Joe Sisto	....	legal services

Production Companies

• Outrage Productions 6 Inc.
• S.V. Thrilling Movies 3 Inc.
• Sound Venture Productions

Distributors

• Argentina Video Home (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Blue Sky Media (2006) (Czech Republic) (all media)
• Imagination Worldwide (2006) (non-USA) (all media) (except for Canada)
• Lance Entertainment (2006) (USA) (all media)
• Premiere Bobine (2006) (Canada) (all media)

Other Companies

• Chapman / Leonard Studio Equipment  dollies

Runtime:

Argentina:86 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Outrage Productions 6 Inc.

Crazy as a loon

Tracy Nelson's character is nuttier than the proverbial fruitcake. Of course, these Lifetime flicks largely rely upon a whacked-out lead character who makes others miserable, commits mayhem and murder, and provides a dark shroud which largely dominates the story.

Tracy and her hubby need a surrogate, and finally find one who suits them and is willing to live in their spacious house during the nine-month pregnancy. Tracy seems to be obsessed with this live-in arrangement, and then makes everyone miserable with her jealousies, and the musings of her aunt, who is as crazy and sociopathic as she is. She offs Auntie, as well as her therapist, who becomes suspicious -- but the aunt continues to push her even further into total lunacy from the dreams and visions which appear throughout.

As par for these flicks, the husband, while apparently a successful and authoritative businessman, schleps around like he has doubled his dose of downers, and as perceptively as if he possessed an IQ in two digits.

All-in-all, it's hard to care an iota about any of these folks, and Tracy's paranoiac and bipolar rantings, interspersed with whiny pleadings, are about as annoying as anything ever put on film. The rest of the cast does little or nothing to lessen this annoyance. In fact, the aunt only compounds it.

The only minor positive aspect in watching this flick was a minimal fascination from its awfulness overall, coupled with watching Tracy and the aunt gnaw the scenery like a bevy of hungry beavers, amidst their thoroughly laconic fellow cast members.